Society of Retired Engineers Kent - SREK

Bringing retired engineers together to share knowledge and experience.

About Us

The Society of Retired Engineers Kent (SREK) is a community for retired engineers and those who are interested in engineering across Kent, providing opportunities for continued learning, social interaction, and professional networking. We offer a variety of events, lectures, and social gatherings throughout the year to keep our members engaged and informed.

Next Meeting 10th November 2026 - Advanced Air Mobility (Peter Stastny)

This talk explores the world of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), a rapidly-emerging, new sector of the aerospace industry which aims to safely and efficiently integrate highly automated aircraft into the National Airspace System. AAM aircraft range in size from small cargo carrying drones to passenger-carrying air taxis, and carry out short range missions. The talk will also provide an update on a number of aspects of drone operations, following on from earlier presentations.

We meet at the Burlington Hotel, Folkestone, Kent. Refreshments are available before the talks.

Membership

Joining the Society of Retired Engineers Kent is open to anyone who has had a career in engineering or those who are interested in engineering and is now retired. We offer a range of benefits for members including access to events, newsletters, and exclusive networking opportunities. Here’s how to become a member:

Complete the membership form
Pay the annual membership fee, currently £40 per annum
Attend our meetings and events, attendance from £3 per meeting
Sample form in the link, please contact retiredengineerskent@btinternet.com for full application form

Join Now

Events

We host a variety of events throughout the year to bring our members together. Check out the upcoming events (Subject to change):

Mission Aviation Fellowship – 13th January 2026
The Last Great Project – 10th February 2026
Slightly Pear-Shaped: Surveying and Mapping the World – 10th March 2026
The UK Nuclear Power Industry – 14th April 2026
Bomb Disposal Operations – 12th May 2026
Optical Illusions, art and the brain – 9th June 2026
Dodgy Military Equipment – 8th September 2026
The Mining Industry in Southern Africa and connection to East Kent – 13th October 2026
Advanced Air Mobility – 10th November 2026
Fire, Smoke & Iron – Spanish artists and the Bilbao Iron Industry – 8th December 2026
To be arranged - 12th January 2027
The Channel Tunnel – History, Design, Build and Communications System - 9th February 2027

Visits

We arrange a variety of visits throughout the year to bring our members together. Check out the proposed visits (Provisional - Subject to sufficient interest):

Thames Cable Car and IWM, London
Givaudan UK Ltd (Fragrances), Ashford, Kent
SouthEastern Rail Depot (Hitachi), Ashford, Kent
Pfizer Pharmaceutical R&D, Sandwich
Dungeness Nuclear Decommissioning
Betteshanger Coal Mining Museum, Deal

Contact Us

If you have any questions or need more information, please reach out to us:

Email: retiredengineerskent@btinternet.com

History of SREK

The Society of Retired Engineers in Kent (SREK) was formed in 1982 originally as the ‘Society of Retired Chartered Engineers in South East Kent’ (SRCESEK) but changed its name in 2010 to reflect the broadened interest base and membership of the Society.

SREK provides a social meeting place for engineers retired from the profession of engineering and those who have had a strong professional relationship with the engineering industries or those who are interested in engineering; and a means for them to be kept informed of the achievements and developments of the profession and a forum for the presentation and discussion of subjects of more general interest.

The Society owes its foundations to the foresight and work of Cecil Melling, a past Deputy Chairman of the Electricity Council. Having retired to Folkestone, he realised that there must be other retired engineers in the area who would welcome the opportunity to meet and keep up to date with developments. With help from the Institutions, retired engineers within SE Kent were brought together in December 1981, and this group of Founder members formed the Society. In December 1988, Cecil Melling was appointed Life President of the Society.

The present members come from many Chartered Engineering Institutions, including those associated with Aeronautical, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Gas, Marine, Mechanical, Mining, Naval Architectures, Nuclear, Petroleum, Radio and Water Engineering; so far around 400 locally retired engineers have joined over the years. The majority of members are resident in East Kent, but a few have travelled from the outskirts of London, West Kent and even neighbouring counties. There is provision in the Society’s current Constitution for non-Chartered Engineers, and professional members of other disciplines who have worked with engineers, to be considered for membership; other guests are welcome at all ordinary meetings and most visits.

Meetings are normally held at The Burlington Hotel, 3-5 Earls Avenue, Folkestone CT20 2HR (near The Leas) on the second Tuesday of each month (except during July and August) at 10.00am for coffee or tea before a talk on an engineering related topic at 10.30 am. Meetings normally close about midday, though some members then take the opportunity to stay on for lunch at a nearby hostelry, often joined by the meeting’s speaker.

Titles of talks presented at recent past meetings have included: The Concorde noise reduction programme; President Putin, his people and policy; Rigid Airships 1909-1930; The Westland helicopter story; Decoding the Mappa Mundi; Bolivar railway and copper mine in Venezuela; Model railways based on civil engineering input; The case for nuclear power; The Last Voyage of the Gloucester; Red Arrows - Smoke On - Go!

The Society organises occasional visits to places of engineering interest and, twice a year, it also organises a post-meeting lunch at the hotel to which guests (including partners) are also invited to attend. The first of these lunches is usually after the May meeting and the second after the December meeting (which also includes the brief AGM). The yearly subscription (£40 per year in 2026) and attendance fee (from £3 in 2026 and payable at all ordinary meetings) are agreed by members attending the AGM.

The Society distributes an email to members a couple of days prior to each meeting in which it gives details of that meeting’s talk plus the talks organised for the following couple of meetings.

We trust you will join the Society and enjoy taking part in its activities and the social company of colleague retired engineers and those who are interested in engineering.